


Off the Grid

by kitlee625, Sarahastro



Series: The Darkest Timeline [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 04:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1414951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarahastro/pseuds/Sarahastro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Sequel to <i>The Other Life</i>. Takes place concurrently with <i>Persons of Interest</i>. Emily, Jake, and Steve Coulson try to find out what happened to their parents with some help from the Rising Tide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Grid

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to InsaneNerdGirl for her suggestion (really fear) about how Steve’s asthma would affect them being off the grid. We weren’t initially going to include that, but it was such a good idea that we had to put it in.

Before they leave San Jose, Jake’s contact in the Rising Tide gives them the coordinates for a safe house. They abandon the SUV at a campground in the mountains and make the rest of the way on foot. The trip is long and arduous, but none of them complain. Their only hope is that someone in the Rising Tide will be able to find out what happened to their parents and how to get them back.

When they finally arrive at the safe house it is nothing like what they expected. At least online, the Rising Tide seems like a powerful network of influential hacktivists with a lot of resources, but the house is a one-room cabin on a dirt road in the California desert. At least it has running water and electricity, and there are a few old couches for the children to sleep on. It does have an encrypted computer, which Jake immediately uses to check in with the Rising Tide. They have been unable to contact anyone since they left San Jose, and one of the hacktivists, a woman named Skye, is eager to interview them in order to broadcast their story to the world.

_People need to know what’s really happening_ , she wrote in an email after learning about their parents being taken. _If the world knew what S.H.I.E.L.D. is really doing, they would rise up against their fascist regime._

Emily and Steve are less excited about leading an insurrection than they are about getting their parents back. Jake though reassures them that Skye will be able to help them.

“She knows a lot of hacktivists. They’ll be able to find out where Mom and Dad are, and how to rescue them.”

“You don’t think they’re still in San Francisco?” Steve asks.

“They could be anywhere. S.H.I.E.L.D. has secrets labs and prisons all over the world,” Jake says.

Steve frowns. “What if they’re in Europe? Or Alaska? How are we going to find them?”

Emily is also not sure this is going to work, but Jake looks confident. “The Rising Tide will help us. They’re powerful enough to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. They’ve hacked into a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. feeds, and they’ll be able to track down Mom and Dad.”

When they get in touch with her, Skye is excited to hear from them again. “I’m glad you made it. I was worried about you guys. Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine. We were able to lose the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents back in San Jose,” Jake says.

“Great. Well why don’t we do the interview?”

“What do you want us to talk about?”

“Just tell your story. The people want to know what you’re going through.”

The interview feels weird, and several times the Coulsons exchange confused looks. Skye is nice, but she clearly is trying to sensationalize their story to inspire her followers. They describe over and over what their parents were like, how it felt to find them missing, how S.H.I.E.L.D. refused to even admit that they were there, and how difficult going on the run has been. At last Skye says that she has gotten enough information. “This is going to be great guys. I’ll edit it together, and it’ll go out later tonight.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Jake says.

“No, thank you. This is great stuff.”

Emily elbows her brother, and he says, “What about us?”

“What?”

“You said that you could help us find out where our parents are and how to get them back. Do you have any leads?”

She hesitates before saying, “I haven’t had much luck so far. The S.H.I.E.L.D. servers containing material on persons of interest are very tightly encrypted.” 

Weeks of worry and exhaustion catch up to Steve. His voice is trembling as he asks, “So you’re not going to help us find out parents?” Emily puts her arm around him as all three children await Skye’s answer.

“I’ll try. Let me talk to a friend who’s a pretty talented hacker, and we’ll see what we can do.”

*****

“Wow,” Miles tells Skye after he finishes listening to her latest broadcast. “That interview with those kids is crazy.”

“I know, right? I can’t believe what they’ve been through. It’s insane. Speaking of which, can you help me find their parents for them? I tried to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. servers, but I couldn’t break the encryption.”

Miles hesitates. “It’s a great story, Skye, but do you really think it’s real?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. hold two normal people for so long? There has to be a reason.”

Skye gives him an incredulous look. “Like what? What could justify that kind of violation of their civil rights?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re terrorists, or enemy agents. Maybe they’re undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and they’ve been re-activated -”

“And what, they just left their kids behind without even saying goodbye?” Skye asks incredulously.

Miles tries a different tactic. “They’ve been gone for months. At this point, they’re probably either already dead, or S.H.I.E.L.D. is planning on keeping them locked up forever.”

She shakes her head. “I have to help them. I promised. You heard the interview. The little boy almost cried when I told him I hadn’t found anything yet.”

He sighs. There is no use in arguing with her when she’s like this. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do. Maybe together we can find a way through their security.”

It takes a few days, but at last Skye and Miles are able to break into a S.H.I.E.L.D. database containing information about all ongoing persons of interest. Most of them are small cases handled by S.H.I.E.L.D. field offices, and they skim past notations about people under investigation because of purchasing dangerous substances, or participating in anti-S.H.I.E.L.D. demonstrations or groups. All three of the children have files - Jake's mentions his involvement with the Berkeley group, but the other two just say "known affiliation with Phillip and Melinda Coulson." However, under “Coulson, Phillip” and “Coulson, Melinda” there is no information except for their location: The Fridge.

Miles disconnects from the server the second he sees that. “Still think those kids’ parents are completely innocent? No one goes to the Fridge unless they’re dangerous, Skye.”

They have both heard the rumors about the Fridge. She searches her brain for the most benign explanation possible. “Maybe they have some crazy powers like telepathy or telekinesis that S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t want anyone to know about.”

“Those things can be dangerous,” he says. “And even if they are innocent, breaking into the Fridge is impossible. It has the highest security clearance, and no one even knows where it is.”

“Until us.” Skye opens her laptop again. "There has to be something in the S.H.I.E.L.D. databases with coordinates. If we can find them -”

“Then we still don’t have any way to get through the security system. We’re hackers, Skye, not Navy SEALS. We can’t break into a top secret prison, or help a bunch of teenagers do it.” He can see that she is getting annoyed with him. “They’re only going to wind up captured or killed if they try to break in. I know you feel for them because of your own search, but you’ve helped them all that you can.”

“But I can’t tell them why, or how to get them back.” Skye punches her pillow in frustration. 

Miles pats her shoulder reassuringly. “All we can do for them now is keep trying to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. Once they’re gone, they’ll have to release all the people they’ve been holding.”

Skye shakes her head. “There has to be more we can do. That interview I did with them got more hits than any other broadcast. People are really compelled by their story. And Jake said that they have skills that could be useful to the Rising Tide - martial arts, survival skills. They can’t just stay at that safe house forever. I’m going to help them erase their old lives and start over.”

She has been planning on moving out to LA for her own quest to find her parents, and now is as good a time as any. It is a bit of a detour, but she does not mind driving up to the safe house where the Coulsons are staying. Miles insists on coming with her, and she wonders if it is because he does not completely trust these kids.

When they finally meet face to face, Emily looks suspiciously at them even after Skye gives them the password.

“You’re Skye?”

“Yep. This is my boyfriend, Miles.”

“Hey. I’m with the Rising Tide too.”

“Do you have any news about our parents?” Steve demands. He looks so hopeful that Skye hesitates yet again telling them the truth. She thought that the news would be better in person, but she realizes that she just needs to tell them the truth as soon as possible.

“We found out some stuff, but it’s not good.” Skye gestures at the couches. “You should probably be sitting for this.”

“What is it? Where are they?” Emily asks.

“We found their names on a list of persons of interest. You guys were on the list too. There wasn’t any explanation as to why, but it did say that they are being held at the Fridge.” The children stare blankly at her, so she adds, “It’s a maximum security S.H.I.E.L.D. prison.”

“No one knows where it is, or what the security measures are exactly, but it’s impossible to break in or out of,” Miles adds.

“So you’re just giving up?” Steve sounds both sad and angry.

Jake however is just angry. He glares at Miles and says, “They can give up, Steve, but we never will. We’re going to find them.”

“Look kid, it’s impossible. Bigger men than you have tried and failed to break in,” Miles says.

“I’m not a kid,” Jake snaps. “And I don’t care what the risks are. They wouldn’t give up on us.”

“Aren’t you curious why they’re being held there?” Miles asks.

Emily shakes her head. “I know my parents.They’re good people. They don’t deserve to be in a place like that.”

Miles looks at Skye for help, but she is silent. “You guys are just going to wind up captured or killed.”

Emily looks at her brothers and says quietly, “We’re getting them back. We don’t care what it takes. We can't just leave them in there."

“If we get captured, at least we’ll be together again,” Steve says.

“That’s a nice sentiment, kid,” Miles says, “but you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

*****

Later Miles and Skye are sitting outside under the stars. “Thanks for your help with them,” he says sarcastically.

“What did you want me to say?”

“How about anything that would convince them that this mission they’re on is suicide. I mean, they’re just kids. How do they expect to break into the Fridge?”

Skye shrugs. She knows that Miles is right, but she also knows where the Coulsons are coming from. “I know that you’re probably right, but in their shoes, I don’t know that I would give up either. I'm searching for my parents too. Do you think I should let it go?”

“That’s different. You’re trying to get information from S.H.I.E.L.D., not risk your life breaking into a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility.”

“But what if it comes to that. What if I find out that my parents are locked up somewhere by S.H.I.E.L.D.? Am I supposed to just give up?”

Miles looks at her sadly. “I know how important this is to you, Skye, but I hope you wouldn’t do anything to get yourself killed over it.”

Truthfully she does not know what she would do. She does not know what it is like to have parents, only what it is like to dream about having them. “Maybe some things are worth dying for.”

He sighs. “Well I don’t know how much more good we can do here. When do you want to get on the road for LA?”

Skye stares at the safe house. The lights are off, and she wonders how long the Coulsons are going to last on their own out here. “I can’t leave them yet.”

He sighs again. 

*****

Finding out the location of the Fridge, Skye decides, is the least that they can do, so she and Miles work on that for a few days while they stay with the Coulsons. In between she teaches them some basic hacking skills, and they teach her how to fight. Miles spends his time fixing things around the house and running errands with them. There is a convenience store an hour away where they buy most of their food, and he drives Emily one afternoon while Skye stays with the boys. 

“How have you been getting groceries?” he asks on the drive back.

She shrugs. “Sometimes Rising Tide members pass through and give us a ride. There’s also a bike that Jake and I use.”

“It’s got to be tough living like that. Are you sure you want to stay out here?”

“This is only temporary until we find our parents. Then we’ll go to wherever the Fridge is.”

Miles shakes his head. Emily seems more practical than her brothers, and he tries one last time. “You know this is suicide, right?”

But Emily is undeterred. “We can’t leave them there. They’re our parents.”

*****

After a week of combing through flight logs and maintenance records, Skye and Miles are able to pin down the location of The Fridge to somewhere in Alberta, Canada

“Good thing we brought our ski jackets,” Steve says optimistically.

Miles rolls his eyes but does not even bother trying to dissuade them again.

Skye though is serious. “If you’re still set on doing this, I’ve downloaded a rough schematic of the Fridge onto this thumbdrive. There’s a Rising Tide safe house outside of Calgary that you can use, and I’ll let some of the members in Canada know to look out for you.”

“How are we going to get across the border?” Jake asks.

“I can get you guys fake passports. They should be good enough to pass inspection. But the border uses facial recognition software connection to a S.H.I.E.L.D. database to search for persons of interest.”

“How are we going to beat that?” Emily asks.

“Well, there’s a way to hack into the system and disrupt the feed as you go through that doesn’t raise suspicion, but it’s kind of complicated. I could try to show you guys how to do it.”

“Or you could come with us,” Jake says.

Skye shakes her head. “I’m sorry guys, but I can’t go to Canada.” This detour to help them has already cost her a lot of time that she could have been using to look for her own parents. Plus crossing the Canadian border these days is not trivial now that S.H.I.E.LD. is monitoring all crossings for potential threats.

Jake looks annoyed, but before he can say anything Emily says, “It’s okay. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us. We’ll be fine.”

“Let me know if there’s anything I can help you guys with in the future,” Skye says.

Steve has been unusually quiet all day, lying on one of the couches wrapped in blankets. Now he says in a weak, wheezy voice, “We’ll miss you, Skye. And Miles too.”

Emily goes over to her brother and feels his forehead. “Are you feeling better Steve?”

He shakes his head sadly.

“Where’s your inhaler?” She finds his inhaler in the folds of his blanket and frowns. It is almost empty. “Do you have another one?”

He shakes his head again. “That’s the last one,” he gasps.

Emily and Jake exchange a worried look. They had tried to get as many inhalers for Steve as possible before going off the grid, but they do not know how they are going to get more.

“What’s wrong?” Skye asks.

Emily tries to sound calm even though she is shaking. “I think Steve has pneumonia. He has really bad asthma, and he gets a lot of pneumonias. He needs his inhalers, and probably some antibiotics, but we’re running out of medicine.”

“He has to go to the hospital,” Jake says.

“There’s a hospital a little over an hour away, but S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors all hospital security feeds. And you’ll have to give ID to check him in,” Skye says.

“I’ll be -” Steve begins, but he starts coughing so hard he can barely breathe. Jake pats him on the back until it passes, and then brings him a glass of water.

“He has to go,” Emily says. She knows it is a big risk, but she cannot imagine losing her brother. “I’ll go with him and pretend to be his mother. We’ll pretend that we don’t speak any English, and they’ll assume we’re illegal immigrants.”

“There’s still the security feed,” Miles says.

“That’s easier to hack than the border. I can send a virus that shuts down the program for a few hours,” Skye says.

“Thanks,” Emily says. “Help me get him to the van.”

Steve is still small for his age, and Miles easily carries him to the van. Skye climbs in the front seat, and Emily hops in the back next to her brother. She stops Jake from joining them.

“You need to stay here. It’s too big a risk if we all go in.”

Jake scowls. “I’m not going to just stay here and do nothing.”

She shakes her head. “They’re looking for three of us. It’ll be safer for Steve if we’re just two. And if anything happens to us, I need to know that you’re okay.”

He takes a deep breath and slowly nods. “If anything happens, I’ll get you guys out,” he promises before shutting the van door.

On the drive to the hospital Emily pats her brother’s head to keep him calm and makes him use his inhaler until it runs out.

“Is he sick a lot?” Skye asks.

“Sometimes.” Emily knows how much he hates being thought of as sickly, so she adds, “It’s only a big deal when he gets a cold. He’s very strong and athletic.”

In between coughing Steve says, “I’m sorry I got sick.”

“Don’t even think that,” Emily says. “It’s not your fault. It’s all going to be fine. Grandmother would be so pleased that all those Cantonese lessons are about to really pay off.” Emily tries to keep her voice upbeat and cheerful. “Remember how we had to translate for Dad whenever we would go to Ohio?”

Steve gives a weak smile.

“Grandmother and Grandfather couldn’t understand why he never learned,” Emily tells Skye. “We tried to teach him, and he could remember a few words, but his accent is terrible.”

When they get to the hospital, Skye stays in the van to hack the security system. As soon as she has confirmation that it’s down, Emily and Steve go to the emergency room entrance. At the front desk she starts shouting in Cantonese, crying, and pointing at Steve. The woman at the desk jumps up and calls for a doctor. Steve is gasping so hard that they rush him back to an exam room almost immediately and start giving him nebulizers, steroids, and antibiotics. For her part Emily just cries and shouts things in Cantonese. It is almost an hour before they get an interpreter on the phone, and Emily gives their cover story. When the interpreter asks her to fill out paperwork, she starts crying again, and the doctor gives her a sympathetic look.

“It’s okay,” the doctor says, “we’ll just put him down as a John Doe.”

After twelve hours Steve is looking well enough that the doctor decides not to admit him to the hospital. Instead he keeps him for just over 24 hours and sends them out with free samples of antibiotics, steroids, and inhalers.

They have just gotten their medications and are about to leave, when Emily notices a commotion outside the door. She peers through the window and sees S.H.I.E.L.D. agents entering the emergency room. 

“They’re here,” she hisses at Steve. 

“What do we do?” he asks.

Emily looks around desperately. During their stay she has marked out all possible routes out of the emergency room, but undoubtedly they are all being watched.

She grabs Steve’s medicines, and they sneak out the back door of the exam room. It connects into a storage area with an elevator marked Service Elevator. No one is watching as they take the elevator to the basement. The bowels of the hospital are nothing like the first floor. The first floor is clean and shiny with signs everywhere directing patients and visitors. The basement is dark and grimy, although fortunately there are signs marking “Laundry,” “Kitchen,” and “Generators.” They do not see anyone down there as they scamper through the halls. At last they see a door marked “Morgue.”

Steve tugs on Emily’s hand. “There has to be a way out of the morgue,” he says, “so they can take the bodies to the cemetery.”

“Good thinking.” They duck inside, and immediately find themselves in a cold room lined with stainless steel. It is the middle of the night, and Emily guesses that this part of the hospital is probably not staffed 24 hours a day. They find their way to the back of the morgue where sure enough there is a loading dock to transport bodies. They wait to make sure that no one is waiting for them before jumping down.

When they had arrived, Skye had made sure to park her van as far from the entrance as possible so no one disturbed her, and they are able to get back to her without being seen.

She looks relieved to see them. “Are you guys okay? I saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. cars drive up, but I didn’t have any way to contact you. The virus only kept the feed down for about twelve hours.”

Emily checks Steve, who despite all the running, is breathing much easier. “We’re fine. We even got more medicine. Thanks for driving us.”

Their trip to the hospital has given Skye plenty of time to think about the Coulsons and what they are trying to do. When she had seen the S.H.I.E.L.D. team arrive, she had been sure that the Coulsons were going to be caught, and she is impressed that they found a way to evade them. On the drive back, she says, “I’m going to take you guys to Canada.”

Steve looks excited. “Really?”

“You don’t have to. We’ll be fine,” Emily says.

“I know you will, and I want to help you. I know how you guys feel. I’m looking for my own parents, and I’d do anything to find them.”

“What about Miles? Will he come too?” Steve asks.

“I don’t know,” Skye says, “but even if he doesn’t, you’ll have me.”


End file.
